North Dakota
Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library opening in North Dakota Badlands
Theodore Roosevelt consistently ranks among the nation’s top five most popular presidents. On this upcoming July 4 holiday, 107 years after his death, T.R. is finally getting his own presidential library – but it’s not where you might think. That library is rising out of the prairie grass in the North Dakota Badlands – a 96,000-square-foot tribute to our 26th president.
It’s as grand as his likeness on Mt. Rushmore, except a lot more subtle, and that’s by design, says architect Craig Dykers. “Nature is transformative here,” he said. “It transformed Theodore Roosevelt, and it will transform new visitors to this library.”
Its gently sloping roof mimics the surrounding buttes, covered in native grasses and walking paths – yes, walking paths on the roof. The hope is they’ll get visitors up and out for a commanding view of Theodore Roosevelt National Park right next door.
“We wanted something that just felt primitive,” said Dykers. “And so, this form emerging from the Earth, it felt like it just arrived from the Earth.”‘ Dykers said.
Inside, a string of skylights will provide almost all the natural illumination the library would ever need, held up by walls made solely of compressed earth.
Everywhere we looked during our privileged sneak-peek back in March, it was hard to tell where nature ended and the library began. Its $450 million price tag is the biggest thing the small town of Medora, North Dakota, has ever experienced.
If you’re wondering why T.R.’s library is way out here instead of his native New York, it’s because were it not for his experiences way out here, Roosevelt said, he never would have been president.
Edward O’Keefe, CEO of the library, and author of the recent book “The Loves of Theodore Roosevelt: The Women Who Created a President” (Simon & Schuster), said, “Theodore Roosevelt grew up as a sickly, asthmatic child who lived his life through books and imagination. So here he is, 24 years old, on the plains and Badlands of North Dakota, and he’s living the life he only read about in books.”
But the reason he took up residence in the Badlands is hardly a happy one, said O’Keefe: “He was a broken man, in a broken land, and nature was his healer.”
In a tragic twist, Teddy Roosevelt’s mother, Mittie, and his young wife, Alice, both died in the same house, on the same day: Valentine’s Day 1884. “The light has gone out of my life,” Roosevelt wrote in his diary – the date marked by a bold X.
“At the funeral of his wife and mother – it was a double funeral – he was so desolate and so depressed, that they were concerned for his own safety,” said O’Keefe.
After settling his affairs (which included asking his sister to raise his newborn daughter, Alice), he headed West, alone. He’d been to the Dakota Territory just a year prior to hunt a pair of bison – the two that still hang in Roosevelt’s Long Island home to this day.
He dug in, and began living a kind of life many Dakota cowboys thought he wasn’t prepared to live. They were wrong.
O’Keefe said, “I think he had a ‘life wish.’ He realized that no matter how rich you are, no matter how privileged you are, that you don’t know what’s going to happen next. If you want to get something done in this world, if you want to love somebody, if you want to accomplish something, you gotta go.”
And it’s that kind of rugged, raw, and real intellectual journey that the library wants visitors not just to look at and to grasp, but experience. “Library and museum are the two worst descriptions of what the TR Library actually is,” said O’Keefe. “It’s a call to adventure.”
It’s the kind of place that couldn’t have been built even five years ago, because artificial intelligence is such a large part of it. For example, you don’t have to imagine what it’s like to be in T.R.’s boots; you can actually see it.
O’Keefe said, “We have created the world’s first presidential archive in AI. Participants can come here to the TR Library, and have an in-person conversation with an avatar of T.R. You do not come unprepared for a conversation with Theodore Roosevelt; he will have none of it.”
It will be the only presidential library that will have hitching posts for your horse. You can take a nature walk on a mile-long path through the prairie. You can sit by a campfire and hear tall tales of life on the range, and step into his cabin at the Elkhorn Ranch.
But for all the fun, there’s a serious bent, too. He was a man of his times, and his times weren’t always flattering.
“I wasn’t interested in doing a legacy project for Theodore Roosevelt,” said T.R.’s great-great-grandson, Theodore Roosevelt V. “There’s plenty of things named after him, plenty of statues. But the idea of just sort of basking in the glow of somebody and saying ‘This is a great man, let’s all look at him,’ isn’t particularly compelling. Normally, presidential libraries – it’s the principal [reason], the president trying to cement the first chapter of his legacy. In this case, we’ve got a hundred years-plus to be able to look back at his legacy, to really understand what that legacy is, what the lasting impacts were. We get to face those issues head-on.”
Including Roosevelt’s racist views of indigenous peoples, whom he often referred to as savages.
“We had a land blessing out here with the five tribes,” said Roosevelt, “to bless the land and really bring them into the project, so that we were working with them and making sure that their voices were heard, and that we were representing things appropriately.”
The library has taken possession of a statue of Roosevelt that was removed in 2022 from outside the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Critics argued that the message of a White man elevated above both a Native American and an African symbolized racial superiority.
“We are here to preserve the life and legacy of Theodore Roosevelt,” said O’Keefe. “I think it’s important that we eventually do something that contextualizes it appropriately, but not at the opening.”
If the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library has any message, it’s that courage and strength often come from personal tragedy, mis-steps, mistakes, and misunderstandings. As he famously said, it’s being in the arena that counts. And that, more than anything, may be the hindsight the library has to offer.
“He does not like the critic,” said O’Keefe. “He does not like the person on the sidelines pointing out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. He likes the person who tries and fails. That’s a powerful lesson for today. I want kids in particular to come in and understand that if you want to change something in this world, you have got to be the source of that change.”
For more info:
Story produced by Aria Shavelson. Editor: George Pozderec.
For more info:
The Bison are in the game. For real, this time.
When EA Sports brought back its College Football title in 2024 after a decade-plus hiatus, FCS teams were not included. That’s still the case as the game moves into the third year of its revival, but, of course, North Dakota State has moved up to the FBS level, as members of the Mountain West.
And one of the perks of that move is inclusion in the popular sports simulation. Participating players get $1,500 plus a free copy of this year’s game, College Football 27.
Not bad, huh?
I can only imagine how cool it is for a kid like Abraham Myers, a tight end from Sioux Falls Washington High School, to see himself as a playable character on a millions-selling PlayStation game, but it’s cool for fans, too.
If you’re a Bison fan, it’s all right there. The Fargodome (sorta, EA didn’t bother to include the name, calling it ‘North Dakota State Stadium’), Tim Polasek, the Bison mascot — OK, that’s really about all the detail they went into, and Polasek’s likeness leaves a bit to be desired. Then again, they still haven’t made much effort to make Kalen DeBeoer look like Kalen DeBoer, so whatever, I guess.
In the past you could still play as NDSU, or SDSU, or USD, or Augustana, or Roosevelt High School, or St. Mother Theresa’s Middle School for the Deaf, or any other team, real or imagined, because of the game’s “Create a team” engine, and that’s still there on this year’s game. There are already a few Jackrabbit teams up on the servers that you can download if you’re an SDSU fan and want to play as the Jacks.
Screenshot
But Bison fans (and Sac State fans, and Missouri State fans, etc., etc.) don’t have to do that. Their team is in the game, with their actual stadium and their actual coach and their actual players, and when I fired up the game on Thursday just an hour after it officially launched, I’ll admit it, the first thing I did was start a game in Fargo, pitting New Mexico against the Bison in the Fargodome for a Mountain West clash that sent former SDSU assistant Jason Eck up against his old Dakota Marker nemesis.
The game started up and there they were: Nathan Hayes under center for the Bison, with DJ Scott carrying the ball, Jackson Williams running free over the middle and Myers teaming with Reis Kessel at tight end to create problems in the red zone.
Screenshot
I went right down the field and scored on the opening drive, with Hayes finding Williams on a drag route for the touchdown.
Despite the best efforts of New Mexico’s star linebacker and former Brookings Bobcat Jaxton Eck (Jason’s son), I had no trouble dispatching the Lobos 31-10.
Later I played around with some other fun matchups.
I brought Nebraska into the Dome, and while we all know the Huskers stink now, for someone like me who’s old enough to remember their Glory Days, it was fun to see the iconic Nebraska uniforms on the Fargo turf, and wonder if someday that could actually happen now that NDSU is in the FBS.
Screenshot
Later I played a game at the Big House in Ann Arbor, sending the Bison up against the Wolverines. Michigan got the ball first and after a holding penalty pinned them deep in their own territory, Keenan Wilson’s strip-sack of Bryce Underwood gave the Bison first and goal, and with the Miaze and Blue crowd of over 100,000 roaring, I quickly turned it into a short touchdown pass from Hayes to Myers.
Ultimately I couldn’t keep that up against the Wolverines, falling 31-21.
I played around with some other teams, mostly the ones with familiar faces. Jimmy Rogers and Iowa State, Matt Entz at Fresno State, Missouri State, Kennesaw State, Sac State, Delaware and other former FCS powers.
Screenshot
I also played a few series of the Tennessee vs. Alabama rivalry game to get an early glimpse of what kind of teams South Dakota’s two favorite SEC sons (DeBoer and Josh Heupel) might have in store for 2026.
Much has been made of trying to predict how successful the Bison will be in year one at the FBS level. Some have already anointed them a favorite to grab a G6 playoff spot. Others think they’ll at least win the Mountain West, while few seem to think they’ll finish much lower than third or fourth.
What does EA think?
Screenshot
The Bison are given an overall team rating of 75 (99 is the highest possible), which is higher than many if not most G6 teams. James Madison, for one, gets a 77.
The other Mountain West teams earned the following ratings:
Air Force – 74
Hawaii – 76
Nevada – 73
New Mexico – 76
Northern Illinois – 70
San Jose State – 72
UNLV – 78
UTEP – 72
Wyoming – 73
Screenshot
As for the NDSU players, here are their top rated personnel:
Griffin Empey (LG): 87
DJ Scott (RB): 83
Keenan Wilson (DT): 80
Darius Glance (SS): 79
Myles Mitchell (RB): 78
Josh Magin (RT): 78
Donovan Woolen (LB): 78
Keith Williams (LB): 78
Logan Larson (DT): 77
Jackson Williams (WR): 76
Matthew Stenbroten (DE): 76
Zach Vanderpool (DT): 76
Alijah Wayne (DT): 76
Jaylin Crumby (FS): 75
Kelton McCaslin (DE): 75
Reis Kessel (TE): 75
Nathan Hayes (QB): 74
Nate Tastad (RG): 74
Taylen Eady (FS): 73
Ryan Babatz (LT): 73
Alex Jenkins (LT): 73
DJ Volts (CB): 72
Mekhi Collins (WR): 71
Jack Liwienski (OG): 71
EJ Davis (CB): 71
Will Steil (FS): 70
Drew Klein (K): 70
Makes you wonder how players like Chase Mason and Charles Pierre would measure up. Maybe someday the Jacks, Coyotes and Fighting Hawks will be in the game and we’ll find out.
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
Matt Zimmer is a Sioux Falls native and longtime sports writer. He graduated from Washington High School where he played football, legion baseball and developed his lifelong love of the Minnesota Twins and Vikings. After graduating from St. Cloud State University, he returned to Sioux Falls, and began a long career in amateur baseball and sports reporting. Email Matt at mzimmer@siouxfallslive.com.
BISMARCK — A West Fargo attorney has been appointed to the North Dakota Ethics Commission.
According to a release, Lisa Edison-Smith was appointed to the commission Tuesday, July 7, to fill the unexpired term of Commissioner Ronald Goodman, who will retire from the board.
Edison-Smith works for Vogel Law Firm, from which she plans to retire at the end of the year, the release said. She specializes in employment and labor law and is also the editor of the North Dakota Employment Law Letter, a monthly publication providing guidance to employers.
Edison-Smith graduated from North Dakota State University and Hamline University School of Law. She was a clerk for the Minnesota Supreme Court and worked in finance and accounting roles at GTE Corp., the release said.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to bring my legal experience and problem-solving skills to the important work of the Commission,” Edison-Smith said via release. “Together, I believe we can improve public trust and deepen the Commission’s commitment to accountability and transparency in North Dakota.”
Commissioners are appointed by consensus of the governor and majority and minority leader of the North Dakota Senate.
Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.
North Dakota
Schulz to transition from ND Parks and Recreation to ND Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Gov. Kelly Armstrong today announced that North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department Director Cody Schulz is leaving the agency next month to assume the role of chief financial officer in the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, effective Aug. 17.
Schulz has led Parks and Recreation since being appointed director by then-Gov. Doug Burgum in October 2021. Armstrong reappointed Schulz to the position upon taking office in December 2024. Schulz previously served 13 years in the state Department of Emergency Services (DES), including as business manager and finance officer for seven years and as the state’s director of Homeland Security from 2018 to 2021. Prior to joining DES, he spent nearly 13 years in the private sector as a business owner, account specialist and government and public affairs analyst.
“Parks and Recreation has thrived under Cody’s leadership, opening a new state park at Pembina Gorge, expanding and improving existing parks, making major investments in infrastructure and enhancing visitor experiences,” Armstrong said. “While we will miss his leadership of the agency, we’re excited that he has decided to continue serving the citizens of North Dakota at DOCR, where his experience in finance and accounting will serve the department well.”
“This was an incredibly difficult decision, one driven primarily by the desire to travel less and spend more time with family, especially my aging parents. At the same time, my new role at DOCR allows me to work in finance and public safety – two passions that have shaped much of my career,” Schulz said. “I am filled with gratitude for the team at Parks and Recreation, and I leave with complete confidence in this organization. This is an exceptionally talented team filled with capable, dedicated people who care deeply about one another, our mission, and the citizens we serve.”
A native of New Salem, N.D., Schulz earned an associate’s degree from Bismarck State College, a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Dickinson State University and an MBA from the University of North Dakota. He also served on the Morton County Commission from 2012 to 2020, including as chairman in 2016, 2017 and 2020, and as a member of the Morton County Park Board for eight years.
-
News6 minutes agoUS congressman says he was detained by armed Israeli settlers in occupied West Bank
-
Los Angeles, Ca1 hour agoNew details emerge in fatal stabbing of boy in El Monte
-
Detroit, MI2 hours ago1 dead, 1 injured after two-vehicle crash at Collingwood and Belleterre in Detroit
-
San Francisco, CA2 hours ago4 arrested, 3 cited after brawl following Giants vs. Rockies game at Oracle Park
-
Dallas, TX2 hours agoMark Cuban takes legal action against Dallas Mavericks ownership over potential new arena deal
-
Miami, FL2 hours agoSouth Florida Dirt: A timeline of the Vacchi vs. Stern legal battle
-
Boston, MA2 hours agoTall Ships begin historic Boston parade of sails
-
Denver, CO2 hours agoLakers Proposed to Land Peyton Watson in Massive 9-Player Blockbuster Trade
